


July - "Meet You in the Summer"

by TheWorldIsYou13



Series: A Calendar of Stories [7]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - School, F/M, Sixth Form, University
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-30
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-08 23:18:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11656755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWorldIsYou13/pseuds/TheWorldIsYou13
Summary: Just before the beginning of the exam period starts for his final year of A Levels, John Smith learns that his best friend from ten years ago - Rose Tyler - has moved back to the area. The last time they had seen each other, they had been merely kids in Primary School, what will it be like for them now that they are ten years older?





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my God, I genuinely thought that I was not going to get anything out for this one before the end of the month. As it is, this is only a third of it, I've still got another two chapters to go! Originally, I planned to write this as one long piece, but the ending of this one f elt like the end of a chapter, and I needed to get something out, so I've split it up. Basically, this whole story has been giving me grief from the get-go. I cannot wait for it to be over, believe me.
> 
> I'm gonna try and start the next chapters ASAP and hopefully get them both out by the end of tomorrow. If I fail in doing that, then at least I can say that the first chapter was up in July (I mean, that counts, right? - Oh, it doesn't matter, I make the rules with this, haha)
> 
> Anyway, this is a school AU. Also, the school is a real school - my old school. Thought it would be easier to write using a place I'm familiar with. All the locations I'll use in this are real (might be a bit difficult however when it comes to the Uni stuff - like the study bedroom - unfortunately, I'm not clever enough to get into Cambridge University - but John is! [damn him])
> 
> Also, one final thing: obviously, A Levels and the end of year 13 happen in April/May time not July. The reason I'm writing this now is because most people associate the end of school and the start of the summer with July, even if some people finish earlier because of Sixth Form, College or University. Just, go with it, okay? :)
> 
> Bye for now, and hopefully I'll see you in a matter of hours...

 John Smith couldn’t help but glance up at the clock sitting proudly on a bookshelf in the library. It wasn’t the biggest library in the world, but it was homely – something that could not be said for all school libraries. It was also hell of a lot nicer than the one they had in middle school, near the History and Religious Studies areas. Not that you could ever do any private studying in that one anyway…John swore the librarians gave everyone dirty looks as they walked through the doors. No, this was a lot nicer. Away from annoying Year Nines and situated in quite a marvellous building – an old house to be specific.

It still wasn’t perfect, though. Through a door in between bookshelves there was another door: an old-looking, heavy wooden door (nowhere near as impressive as the main entrance door, but impressive enough) and through that door was another room. A classroom to be exact. And it just so happened that there was always a lesson going on in there and, being an old house, the walls weren’t exactly soundproof. He could hear everything.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, there were people in the library chatting away as if they didn’t have any exams to prepare for. God, they annoyed him. The weather was nice, so why didn’t they just go outside onto the terrace? Take advantage of the nice weather while it lasted? But no, chatting in the darkened room of the library was clearly a better way for them to spend their time. Brilliant.

As John looked at the clock, he grimaced. It was five past one. Period four would be ending in ten minutes and that meant the beginning of lunch time. Already there were people with food in here; some people having used their free period to dodge the lunch queue (seriously, in about twenty minutes’ time, getting to the Year 13 common room would become the most challenging part of the day! It was that bad).

In all honesty, he could’ve gone home by now. His lessons for the day had finished period three, but John always preferred to work in a working environment. He found it easier to concentrate without all the distractions that home provided him.

Not that he had much of a home. Oh sure, he lived comfortably enough – just like the vast majority of students at this school – but his family had died when he was seven. He remembered them well enough and he remembered the accident that had killed them even more vividly. A car accident, how mundane. He’d been the only one to survive the accident and had been living with the survivor’s guilt ever since.

Now, he lived with his adopted family. They were nice enough people, but John had never really fit in. Since they had taken him in and he had moved from Glasgow to Cambridgeshire, he had never been able to feel the same comfort he had as before.

It hadn’t all been bad, though. Like said, his adopted family were nice people and he had made a few friends in the ten years that he had lived down here. Donna and Jack were his closet friends; he had met them almost as soon as he had started primary school and they had been a force to be reckoned with ever since.

Donna was a feisty red-head, who had a love for sarcasm and would take no bullshit from anybody -especially not him. She was also kind hearted, too – not that John told her that very often. Maybe he should.

Jack was pretty much the complete opposite of John. He was what most people would refer to as a ‘walking innuendo’ and had been since about Year Eight. He was loud, brash and sometimes over confident. But, like John, he too, had felt like an outsider to begin with. Jack had been born in America and had often commented (during the early days) about how different things were here than they were there. Now, John knew Jack considered this his home. He had been here since he was about seven – only a few months more than John had – but he was adaptable and hadn’t lost his family. That was the main difference between their situations.

Donna and Jack weren’t the only ones John had befriended over the years. And they certainly hadn’t been the first. When John had moved, it had been the summer, and, while for most it at the start, he had spent in his room in stoic silence, still grieving, he had spent a lot of the latter part playing outside in front of the houses that lined his new street. There had been many kids there at that time, but there had only ever been one that John wanted to spend time with: Rose. She was the first person he had met when he had moved and she was the only one who had ever even started to understand what he had gone through. She, too, had experienced grief. At only five, her father had been hit by a car and killed instantly; neither her nor her mum had been there when it happened. She had told him that she would never forget her mother telling her that her father would never be coming back home. She had cried for days afterwards, apparently, not wanting to leave her room for anything or anyone. John even remembered her mother telling him once that she was the first person she had told any of this to. His seven year-old self had felt immensely proud at being trusted by someone like that. It had been then that he had decided to tell her his own story.

After that, the two of them had been inseparable. They did everything together and John remembered that it had been the only time in the last ten years that he felt any sense of belonging. It was a feeling he only ever got when he had been around Rose.

It had been short lived, however. They had spent a year together, but a year hadn’t been long enough. It had been near the end of the summer holidays the following year that John had been told that Rose had to move away. Something to do with rent and the landlord apparently. He had been heartbroken.

He hadn’t seen Rose since the day she moved away. She had posted him birthday and Christmas cards to begin with, but, by the time that they reached the end of primary school age, the cards had ceased to come and John knew that he was unlikely to ever see her again. It felt weird to say, but John still missed her, even to this day. It was stupid, he knew, but he couldn’t help it.

Both Donna and Jack knew about her – had even met her a couple of times during that year – and they knew that it had hurt when she had left. However, what they didn’t know was that he still hid some of that pain within him. God knows what they would say if they knew.

John sighed and cleared his thoughts, bringing his mind back into the present. He glanced at the clock again and saw that it was now lunch time. Already people were starting to come in, just like John knew they would. It also meant that Donna and Jack would be in here at any moment, too. He loved his friends, dearly, but he really wanted to study. His first exam was only weeks away and he wasn’t entirely in the mood to be distracted by one of Jack’s anecdotes.

He was about to pack his books away, ready for when his friends arrived, when his mobile buzzed in his pocket.

Curious, he took it out. Hardly anyone tried to contact him through his phone. Despite owning a mobile, he rarely used it and was notorious for being bad at returning people’s calls. It had gotten to a stage a few years back where everyone thought it best to try and phone or text him only when it was an emergency. Thus, hearing it now only added a slight feeling of apprehension to his curiosity.

As he had expected it was a text, from Donna. It read:

_Oi spaceman, meet us outside. The sun’s out for once and I’ve just heard something you might be interested by_

Sighing, but in some ways incredibly curious as to what it was that Donna thought he might be interested in, John packed up his stuff and made his way out onto the terrace.

Donna was right, the sun was out for once and John couldn’t help but squint as the rays hit his eyes as he stepped out of the old building and walked to the benches on the terrace.

Sure enough, Donna and Jack were sitting around one of the round benches overlooking the grounds. The other benches were full of people chatting and eating and John had to avoid being walked into a couple of times as he made his way to the two people awaiting his arrival.

Sitting down on the bench, John placed his bag next to him and looked expectantly at Donna.

“So, what was it that you thought I’d be interested in?” He asked.

“Oh, and hello to you, too,” Donna retorted.

“Sorry, hi.” John said quickly, hoping that Donna was about to cut to the chase.

Both of them ignored Jack’s silent sniggering at their exchange. The way they spoke to one another never failed to amuse him.

“That’s better,” Donna smiled triumphantly.

“Donna…” John said in a warning tone, his patience thinning.

“Alright, alright,” she sighed. “I was in English this morning and, you know how I am, I like to listen in to everyone else’s conversations; well, apparently, Martha’s got a new neighbour. Moved in at the weekend.”

“And I’m supposed to be interested in this because…?” John asked, honestly wondering why Donna would think this would be of interest to him. He and Martha lived nowhere near each other… well, they lived fairly near one another, but not near enough that a new neighbour of hers would be of any bother to him. It was likely John would never even see them, let alone care about their existence.

Donn shared a knowing look with Jack, who was trying not to smile, clearly aware of what Donna was about to say.

“Well,” Donna began. “I think it might be of interest when her new neighbour is Rose Tyler.”

“What?” John asked, his eyes wide. Now he understood why Donna had wanted to tell him this. “She’s moved back to the area?”

“Apparently so,” Jack put in, still smiling.

“Thought you might be happy,” Donna said. “You’ve been missing her ever since you moved away.”

“But, what about school? I assume she’s gone on to do A Levels, she always was a bright spark,” John said.

“She’s probably taking her exams in a different school – one round here,” Jack figured. “Hey, you never know! She might be taking them here. She might even be in some of the same ones as yourself. If she even carried on with school in the first place, that is.”

“Maybe,” John agreed.

“And if not,” Donna said. “She lives next to Martha, so you can always pop round and say hi.”

“I doubt she’d recognise me now,” John sighed.

“John, you haven’t changed that much.”

“I’m eighteen, the last time I saw her, I was still in Primary School. I think I’ve changed a little since we last saw each other. And what about her? What if I walk past her and don’t even know who she is?”

“Don’t you think you’re thinking about this a little too much? Just pop round and say hi, that’s all you can do,” Donna told him. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have to go and see my History teacher about something.”

“When you say ‘something’, are you referring to all those essays you’ve been too busy to hand in?” Jack laughed.

“Shut up, Harkness!” She said as she stood up to leave.

John and Jack watched her go before turning to each other.

“So, do you reckon you’ll ask Rose out?”

John choked on air for a second before looking at his friend. “What?”

“Will you ask her out, when you see her?”

“Why?”

“Oh, come on, you were smitten by her.”

“I was seven!”

“You missed her,”

“I was a kid who’d lost his best friend!”

“It’s been over ten years and you still miss her.”

Pause.

“Shut up.”

Jack waited a second before asking again. “So, will you?”

John sighed. “I dunno, Jack. Like you said, it’s been over ten years. What if she’s got a boyfriend? What if she’s happy? I don’t want to just barge my way back into her life if she doesn’t want me there.”

“Fair enough,” Jack agreed, knowing on a moral level that John was right. “But, if it’s any consolation, I reckon she’s missed you just as much as you’ve missed her.”

“And how would you know that?”

“Because, she’s was smitten with you, too, back then.”

“She was seven, too!”

Jack just smiled.

…

John sighed and banged his head on his desk. He was tired, studying was starting to take its toll now. He knew this stuff, he really did, but the constant reminder of looming exams was starting to take its toll. When did learning stop being fun? He wondered to himself. Oh yeah, he remembered the moment you started school. God, he couldn’t wait to get into University. Everything would be so very different.

He hoped.

However, exams weren’t the only thing on his mind. He kept thinking about what Donna had said at lunch, about Rose being back in the area, now living next to Martha. It would be so easy to just make his way to that part of the estate and knock on her door. Martha only had one neighbour and John assumed that Donna had meant ‘next door neighbour’ when she had told him. If not, Martha would know. But it would be so easy to just see her and yet, John couldn’t help but feel anxious at the thought of seeing her again after all this time. He thought about what he had said to Jack; about fearing she might not recognise him. He didn’t think he could take that, because Jack had been right: he had been smitten with her. Yes, he hadn’t been very old and yes, it had been over a decade since they ha parted ways, but, despite all that, John knew that Rose had been the only person who had understood him in the way no one else ever had. From what he remembered, she had always been a very perceptive child, always aware. He didn’t know how much of that was just her and how much had come from losing her father, but it was there nevertheless. She understood things that others did not; things about people.

The more he thought, the more he worried. What if all these were selected memories? A compilation of the best of them that John had chosen to remember. What if they were only there to preserve the image who John thought she had been in his mind? What is was completely different? He wasn’t sure he could allow himself to be shown that his memories were only a rose-tinted view on the reality they had lived.

No, he was overthinking this. Donna was right, he should go see her – what harm would it do? At the very worst, she could turn around and say that she didn’t remember him or that she didn’t want to see him. He’d be okay with that, surely? After all, it had already been so long. Did he really need her in his life that much?

_Yes._

No.

_Maybe?_

John shook his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts. He had work to do. He had exams in a few weeks and there was no way he was going to allow anything to compromise his chances of getting into Cambridge; not even Rose Tyler.

There was then a knock at the door, loud and forceful. Probably someone trying to sell something. Or the gas man.

The knock came again and John just groaned. Was someone going to open it? He then remembered that he was the only one in the house until at least eight that evening and so decided to leave it, hoping that the person on the other side would give up and go away.

They didn’t.

In fact, they knocked five times before John eventually gave in and grudgingly went down the stairs to answer the door.

He hadn’t been expecting this.

“John?”

John looked startled at the girl in front of him said his name. It took him a moment to process everything, but soon enough realised who was standing at his front door. She hadn’t changed at all. Suddenly, he was seven years old again.

“Rose?”

“Hi,” she said simply, a ghost of a smile on her face. She seemed almost… shy; as if she wasn’t sure about what he would say. After all, it had been so long.

John, meanwhile, had no idea about what to say. It didn’t happen often (and was something Donna revelled in when it did occur) but he was speechless. The last thing he had been expecting was for Rose to turn up on his doorstep – especially since he had literally just been contemplating going to hers. It seemed like such a coincidence. But, like he always told himself, never ignore a coincidence. Well, unless you were busy, of course.

Maybe this was fate?

On the other hand, maybe not, fate wasn’t something John believed in. But, he was willing to admit he was wrong and change his beliefs if it indeed had been fate that had led Rose Tyler to his door.

Suddenly, John became very much aware that he had withdrawn into his own head (a really rather dangerous place to be sometimes) and still hadn’t said anything to Rose other than her name.

Getting his head back into gear, he replied with a simple, “hello.”

Another awkward silence passed between them. It was odd, not knowing what to say to someone you had talked so freely with in the past. Surely, it wouldn’t last, would it?

“So,” Rose began, almost unsure of herself now. “I just popped over because I wanted to see you, say hi. Martha told me that you still lived here, so…”

“Yup, still here,” he laughed nervously, unsure off what to say next. He hadn’t realised how hard it would be to maintain conversation.

“Well, I was just wondering if you wanted to go out some time – y’know to grab coffee or something? There’s the Costa in town, isn’t there? Or that new one up by Tesco?”

“Yeah, that sounds good – brilliant even.”

“So, which one do you prefer?” Rose asked.

“Hmm? Oh, erm, town…easier to get to,” John stumbled. Rose just laughed.

“Okay, town it is, then. Saturday alright for you? Say round one o’clock, maybe?”

“Yeah, sounds good,” he agreed. “I guess I’ll see you there, then.”

“Yeah, see you there.” Rose gave one last smile before turning around and making her way back down the street.

John watched her go before making his way back inside and shutting the door. As soon as the door clicked shut, John let out a breath he hadn’t realised he had been holding. God, that had been so awkward. How had that happened? But it was done now, and he was meeting her on Saturday afternoon. That was good, wasn’t it? She still wanted to see him. She hadn’t forgotten about him.

That thought alone made him smile. Rose Tyler hadn’t forgotten about him. In fact, she had come around here, almost completely out of the blue and asked him to meet her for coffee. Donna and Jack would say that she was asking him out on a date. He wouldn’t quite go that far, himself, but the thought of it made him extremely happy – if only a tad nervous.

His only challenge now was making it through the week without the thought of Saturday afternoon providing too much of a distraction.

__

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here is part two. 
> 
> Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to get this all out before the end of the month. I'm gonna have to write part three tomorrow (hopefully). I'm kinda annoyed with myself that I'm late with it, but I had a really bad day today and, to be honest, over the last month have found myself not feeling like I want to write anything. So that's my excuse. I guess because of work and certain issues at home, I just haven't had the time or been in the right frame of mind. Plus the fact that this whole idea has been bugging me since I started trying to write it. Seriously, I can't wait to have it finished so I can move on to something else.
> 
> Anyway, I'll do my best to upload tomorrow. 
> 
> On the bright side, at least the majority of it was up on time!
> 
> \- Emma :)

On Saturday morning, John awoke to the sound of his phone buzzing on his bedside table. Groaning, he grabbed the offending object and pressed the button, squinting as the light made his eyes hurt in the still darkened room.

One message from Donna.

Another from Jack.

John groaned again cursing the moment he told them about Rose’s visit. He should’ve known better than to let the two of them know; he’d never hear the end of it now – regardless of the outcome.

Grudgingly, however, he opened the messages. Donna’s was merely just a reminder telling him not to worry and to not get nervous. Which, John knew, was a subtle Donna way of way of telling him ‘don’t fuck this up’. Jack’s on the other hand, was nothing more than a winky face. It didn’t take a genius to work out what that meant. But John knew for certain that none of what Jack was referring to was likely to happen.

At least not yet, the darker – more Jack – part of his mind told him.

Eventually, he hauled himself out of bed and into the shower. Once out he changed quickly before looking at the clock in his room. He had three hours before he was due to meet Rose and he was determined to be early. Time wasn’t exactly his strong point – he was always late for things (not that it was ever his fault, mind you!) – but he was going to make sure that he got it right this time. The last thing he wanted was to make a bad impression.

What on earth was he saying? This was Rose he was talking about. And this was not a date.

But still, being on time once in his life wouldn’t such a bad thing, now would it?

…

Yet, as was typically him, John managed to leave later than he wanted. He had thought that leaving at half twelve would provide him enough time to walk up the town and into the Costa with time to spare! However, for some reason or other, he managed to leave ten minutes late. One day, he thought, one day.

So here he was, half running up the town, on what seemed like one of the hottest days of the year so far.

He made it to their rendezvous at just after five past one, sweating buckets and praying that Rose had got caught up somewhere. However, he was in no such luck, since the moment he walked into the building, he saw Rose sitting at one of the tables at the far end with a drink on the table.

He bypassed the counter and headed straight for her. She noticed him almost immediately and gave him a smile.

“Hey, you made it,” she said. “You okay?” John could tell that she was trying to hold back a laugh.

Sitting down, John tried to catch his breath. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he breathed. “Sorry, I left later than I wanted and landed up almost running here.”

Rose just giggled. “There was no rush, honestly. I’ve only just got here myself, so you’re not that late.”

“Still.”

“Do you not drive yet, then?” She asked him.

“No, I failed my test three times. Figured I’d leave it until after Uni now.”

“Three times? Blimey, what did you do?”

“You don’t wanna know.”

Rose just shook her head fondly at him. “You haven’t changed much, I see.”

“Hey!” John replied with a smile.

“’S true, though. I remember you on a bike!”

“Well…”

Rose just laughed again and, this time, John joined her.

“Right,” he said once he had calmed down. “I’m going to go and get a drink; be back in a sec.”

“Okay, I won’t go anywhere.”

“I should hope not, you’re holding the table for us!”

John smiled at her once more before getting up out of his seat and headed towards the counter. 

The queue wasn’t long as such, but long enough for him to be waiting a few minutes to be served. All the while, he continued to look at Rose. The first time she noticed him, she stuck her tongue out cheekily and he could do nothing but return the same gesture. It carried on for a little while before John found himself in front of one of the baristas, who was looking at him strangely. Rose just laughed at him and John ordered his drink feeling a touch embarrassed at having been caught out.

“What did you get?” Rose asked as John sat back down at their table.

“Just a tea – got a thing for it, y’know. That, and it’s cheap.” 

“You’re such a student,” she laughed.

“Well, I better start now. I’m moving to Cambridge after all, it’s not exactly the cheapest place.”

“You’re going to Cambridge?” Rose asked.

“Yeah, hopefully.”

“That’s great news! You always were smart, y’know?”

“Well, I have my moments, I guess,” he took a sip of his drink. “What about you, where are you going in September?”

Rose looked down at her drink briefly before looking back up at him. “I’m not going to University. I didn’t do A Levels.”

“Really? What did you do after your GCSEs, then? Did you go to College, instead?”

Rose just shook her head.

“No, I left at sixteen. I got a job instead.” She admitted.

“Hey, that’s good!”

“Not really, I barely earn more than minimum wage.”

“It’s not the end of the world, you know.”

“I just regret not carrying on with my education, so it feels like I’ve failed.”

John looked at her. He could see the regret behind her eyes. It was sad for him to hear that she hadn’t fulfilled the potential that he knew she had. 

“Why did you leave?”

“It was stupid really; I left because I thought I had fallen in love with this guy I met,” Rose looked at John, judging his reaction. She saw that he was silently urging her to continue, so she took in a deep breath and continued her story. “It started out pretty normal. I was nearly sixteen when we met – he was eighteen – we would meet up after school and hang out – all pretty normal and it wasn’t interfering with school or anything. 

“It was just before my GCSEs that he asked me to move in with him. I was sixteen by then, and I was starting to get bored with the monotony of school life; I thought it was what I wanted; I thought it would be an adventure and that it would better than continuing with school for at least another two years. Mum didn’t like the idea, of course: told me that I was throwing my life away and that I would land up regretting it in a few years’ time. But I was adamant, and I ignored her and did it anyway. I got a job before school ended, working full time, so that I could leave school completely, and three weeks later moved in with Jimmy.”

“I take it, it didn’t go well,”

“No, it didn’t. We lived together barely six months before he started going out with another girl. He also made me pay all the bills – he took out loans at the bank since I wasn’t yet old enough to do so, but made me pay him to pay them back. Eventually, it got so bad that I told him that I was leaving. That night, I packed up my bags and made my way back to my mothers. I was nearly a thousand pounds in debt and I had no pride whatsoever. I’ll always be thankful to my mother for taking me back with open arms, though.”

“God, Rose, I’m so sorry,” John told her.

“It’s alright, it’s in the past now, but it does mean that I’ve missed out on so much. That’s life I s’pose.”

“You’re eighteen, though,” John reminded her. “So it’s not too late to do something.”

“I know,” Rose nodded. “And I’m thinking of looking into some A Level courses. I thought about studying in Cambridge, too, y’know. I just need a new scene.”

“Well then, there you go, sounds like you got a plan.”

“That’s if I get in. Because of all the stuff going on before, I didn’t get amazing GCSE grades.”

“Did you pass?”

“Well, yeah…”

“Then don’t worry.”

“Thanks,” Rose smiled shyly as she picked up her drink.

“What for?” John asked, confused.

“For, y’know, not judging me.”

“Why on earth would I do that?”

“Because so many people do,” she told him. “They hear I’m a school drop-out and they immediately look at you in ways that make you feel small. It hasn’t happened much, since I tend not to tell people, but it does happen. I think you’re the first person, other than my mother, who hasn’t judged me for my decisions these past few years.”

“People are just too quick to judge,” John told her. “Just ignore anyone who does that.”

They lapsed into silence for a few moments before Rose pipped up.

“So, what is it that you’re going to be doing at Cambridge, then?” She asked. “I bet it’s something science-y.”

John looked shy for a second before answering. “I’m doing Astro Physics,”

“Blimey,” Rose smiled. “See, I told you, you always were smart.”

Again, there was a brief silence between them as they drank their drinks.

“So, other than what you said earlier, how have you been?” John asked. “I mean, it’s been ten years since I last saw you.”

“Oh, not too bad. What about you?”

“Same, not much has happened really.”

“That’s good, I suppose.”

“Yeah, suppose so.”

Pause.

“I missed you, y’know.” 

It wasn’t until the words were out, that John cringed at the way they sounded. How on earth was Rose supposed to reply to that? 

“I missed you, too. I’m sorry that I stopped sending cards.”

“Oh, that’s alright, it happens,” John told her, neglecting to tell her that it hurt a little the first year he received nothing from her. She didn’t need to know that, after all.

“I guess life got in the way, huh?”

“Yeah,” John nodded. “But you’re back now, so you don’t need to send cards.”

Rose laughed. She seemed to be doing that a lot. John took it as a good sign.

“Well, what about when you go to Uni, huh?” I’ll have to start sending cards then. You won’t be here all the time, will you?”

“No, but I won’t be far away. Cambridge is only a bus ride away.” As he told her this, it only just occurred to him that, yes, he was going to go away in a few months. He had only just met her again, he wasn’t sure he was going to be ready to say goodbye to her again. He worried that they would fall out of contact with each other.

Rose seemed to notice that his words didn’t match his mood. She took one of her hands in his and he looked up at her, startled by the gesture.

“Don’t worry, I will come and see you,” she told him. “And hey, if I start studying Cambridge next September then I’ll be around a lot. And like you said, it’s only a bus ride away. Plus, I’ve got my car, so I can drive to you.”

“I didn’t realise you’d passed your test! Here you were asking me if I had passed mine and I forgot to ask you the same thing.”

“Well, now you don’t need to ask,” Rose smiled, taking her hand back. John wouldn’t admit this to anyone, but he missed her touch as soon as it was gone.

“How many tests did you take?”

“Just the one,” she replied. “I was lucky I think.”

“Nah, I’m sure it was more than luck.”

“You’ve not seen me drive.”

“Not yet, I suppose.”

“Hey, tell you what, I’ll give you a lift back and then you can tell me again if you think it wasn’t luck.” She laughed.

“You’re on.”

…

“Oh my God, never drive me anywhere ever again.” John said as he climbed out of Rose’s car, panting, after she parked outside of his house.

“I wasn’t that bad, surely?”

“Nah, I’m only playing with you, you were fine, honestly,” John told her. “Like I said, it was more than just luck that meant you passed your test. You’re a good driver.”

“Well, thank you.” She said. “I wish I could same the same for you, but you don’t drive and, to be honest, the image of you behind the wheel of a car is something that I will have nightmares about.”

“Hey!”

“John, the bike, remember?” 

“That was a bike, not a car.”

“My point exactly.”

“So I fell crashed a few times and then managed to steer it into a ditch – several times – doesn’t mean I’ll be a bad driver. I was a kid after all.”

“You were pretending it was a car and that you were in the midst of a high-speed chase. Plus, I remember you saying ‘I can’t wait to do this with a real car’.”

“Now you’re just being mean,” John pouted and Rose thought he looked adorable as she patted his shoulder sympathetically.

“Yes, yes I am.” Rose then looked at her watch. “Anyway, I’d better go. I have things to prepare for tomorrow and mum wants me to help with the house since we’ve got people round tomorrow.”

“Oh, okay,” John said, trying to hide his disappointment, but knowing he probably failed.

Rose noticed and went to reassure him. “Hey, we can meet again at some point next week, though, can’t we?”

“Of course we can! I can do pretty much any day – as long as it’s after school. What about you?”

“Well, I work during the week, but I have weekends off. How about I meet you here on Saturday morning?”

“That sounds good to me.”

Rose took out her phone and looked at John to do the same. “Here, let’s exchange numbers and I’ll text you a bit later on.”

“Okay, sure.” 

Once they exchanged their details, John smiled at her again. “Thanks for that.”

“No worries,” Rose replied. “Right, I shall let you get inside and I shall speak with you later.”

“Sure thing,” John nodded. “Speak later then,”

“Yup,”

Rose gave John one last smile before making her way back to her car and waving at him once before getting inside. 

John wanted back and watched as she drove off. Once she was gone, he turned around and went inside his house with a smile on his face. Today had gone pretty well if he did say so himself. He hadn’t made a fool of himself and Rose was happy to meet up with him again. That was a good sign, right? He certainly thought so. Also, she was going to visit him when he went to University. Until today, he hadn’t thought about that much, but hearing that Rose would come and visit him meant he didn’t have to dwell on that thought for the entire summer. He just hoped that it wasn’t going to be a repeat of the card issue. He didn’t think he could take it if he lost her again. 

Gosh, he sounded like a sappy romantic. 

Maybe he was.

Maybe he wanted to be for Rose.

But what if that wasn’t what she wanted?

Well, right now, he wasn’t sure if he wanted that either. He was more than happy to keep her as a friend. After all, he had been without her friendship for so long. It would be a shame to go and ruin it almost immediately after finding it again.

But time would tell. 

It always did. 

For now, he was just excited at the prospect of seeing Rose again. 

From now until the day he went to University (excluding all the days in was in school for), he had so much time in which he could see her. 

And he wasn’t planning on wasting a day of opportunity.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again...  
> Okay, I'm sorry this has taken so damn long to get to you. It's been bugging me and finding the time and motivation to write hasn't been easy. But finally here we are! I'm a little unsure about this...it wasn't exactly the direction I had planned, but I went with the flow (as per usual) and this is what happened. 
> 
> Just a couple of warnings for this one, nothing extreme but, since the other two chapters have been pretty much 'anybody friendly', I just want to let people know that I do use a couple of swear words in this chapter and sexual contact is mentioned as well (though nothing explicit! It's not that type of story!)
> 
> Anyway, here's the final chapter for this little story. While you lot read this, I will be looking over my notes trying to work out August and praying that I get it done before September. I'm planning on doing something for The Hottest Day of the Year (why, I don't know, since all the weather has done recently is rain and been anything but hot (pretty sure the hottest day was earlier last month, but who cares, eh?)). Could land up being a bit smuttier, but let's see if I can keep it clean. :P
> 
> Bye for now!!

They met every weekend after that until John left school for study leave. He knew he should be using this time to study for his exams, but the prospect of getting to see Rose more was much more important to him. He never said it aloud, too afraid to come across as arrogant, but he knew he didn’t need to study as much as others for his exams. He just knew it. Of course, meeting Rose didn’t mean his studying went out the window altogether; in fact, Rose would often text him or even say to him that they wouldn’t meet up that day so he could sit down and focus for a bit. She knew what getting into Cambridge meant to him and he knew that she wasn’t going to let him fail.

Once study leave came around, John started meeting Rose during the week at work and spending her lunch hour with her. He would meet her outside the shop where she worked before making their way to the nearest café in town. They talked about nothing most days; just idle chat passing between them as they enjoyed each other’s company. Often, Rose would talk about her school life before she left and John would quite happily listen as well as he could. Most of all, he just loved hearing the sound of her voice.

What he loved more, however, was the sound of her laugh. It was a sound he knew he could create quite easily and took every opportunity he could to do so.

When Rose’s break came to an end, John would then walk her back to the shop with a promise to see her again the next day if he wasn’t sat in an exam hall.

…

Eventually, the day of John’s last exam came around and to say he was relieved was an understatement. He may not have shown it, but he had been feeling incredibly stressed over the last few months and finally it was over. There was still Results Day to go but, other than that, it would be the last time he had need to go into that school. Seven years of having been their almost every day were finally coming to an end. If he wasn’t feeling so nervous for this bleeding exam, he would have jumped with joy.

Neither Donna or Jack had exams that day – their exams had finished the week previously – so he knew he wasn’t going to have anyone to talk to before he went in. He hated waiting in silence, preferring to ramble about something to someone to let off some steam, but there was none of that today. He supposed he could talk to one of his classmates, but, truth be told, he didn’t really know any of them all that well. He was on his own.

Sighing, he took out his phone. Two new messages: one from Donna, one from Jack, both telling him good luck. He thought about calling one of them, just so he could talk to someone before going in, but decided against it. He also thought about calling Rose, but realised she would be at work right now and probably didn’t have her phone on.

“John?” John looked up from his phone and saw his physics teacher – Mr Arnold – looking down at him in concern. “You alright there?”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, yeah I’m fine,” he replied.

“You sure, you’re very quiet. Not like you at all.”

“A bit nervous, I suppose. Last one and all. Last chance to make it count.”

“Well, try not to worry,” his teacher said. “You’re an extremely bright lad, you’ll be fine. You know this stuff. Every practice paper you’ve done you’ve pretty much got fall marks on. Just imagine you’re in the classroom, it might help you to relax.”

“Thank Sir, I’ll do my best,” John replied, giving a small smile.

“I know you will. Now, go on, get your stuff together, you need to be down at the Sport’s Hall in fifteen minutes.”

John nodded and watched as Mr Arnold walked off. Sighing, John looked down at his phone again to check the time and felt his heart stutter when he saw he had an unread message. It was from Rose:

_‘Just managed to find some time to grab my phone and say good luck._

_Good luck! Thinking of you. I know you’ll do brilliantly xx’_

Smiling to himself, he put his phone in his bag and left it in the designated room by the library before making his way out of the Sixth Form house and down to the Sport’s Hall.

…

He didn’t ring Rose until that evening, not wanting to bother her before he knew she would be home from work. He was dying to talk to her, however, so, when he did eventually ring, he waited impatiently for her to pick up.

_“John?”_

“Rose! Hi!”

 _“Hey, how did it go today?”_ She asked, getting to the point.

“It went well, yeah. Couldn’t have gone better, I don’t think,” he replied, confidently. And it was, true, he knew the answer to every question and finished with time to spare. He just hoped that the examiners could read his almost illegible handwriting. Doctor’s handwriting, Donna said he had. He couldn’t deny it.

_“That’s great to hear! So that’s it now, is it?”_

“Yeah, that was my final one,” he told her. “As of now, my summer can officially start. God, it feels good to have nothing to do.”

Rose laughed down the line, _“speak for yourself, I’m still working throughout the week.”_

“That’s true,” John agreed. “When did you say you get a week off, though?”

_“Beginning of September, around the time you go to University.”_

“Damn, any chance you can move it?”

 _“’Fraid not,”_ Rose told him. _“But, hey, I can come over and spend some time with you during Fresher’s week.”_

“Sounds like a plan,”

_“And, don’t worry, we still have the weekends up until you go.”_

“That we do,”

_“Right, I better go, I’ll see you soon, yeah?”_

“Yeah, I’ll meet you at lunch tomorrow.”

_“Okay, bye for now.”_

“See ya.”

Hanging up, John put down his phone and laid on his bed. All of a sudden he found he didn’t know what to do with himself. For the first time, John found he had nothing to do – no work to complete, not even any studying to do. He supposed he could start reading books for his University course, wherever he landed up. Yes, that would keep him busy, trip to the library it was tomorrow then.

…

Up until Results Day, that was how his summer went. For those few weeks, John would read, meet Rose and read some more. Eventually, Rose decided that herself, John, Donn and Jack should take a trip to the cinema and then go for drinks afterwards. At first, John had been unsure, but Rose had told him that she hadn’t seen the two of them in years and wanted to meet up with them again. With that reasoning, John found it very hard to argue with her.

So, that Saturday, they all met up outside the cinema. Jack had said that he knew exactly what film he thought they should see and John couldn’t help but pray that they weren’t about to watch the new Fifty Shades of Grey film (was that even still out? John had no idea).

Thankfully, they didn’t. Instead, Jack had decided that they all take advantage of their youth and go in to see one of the new animated kid’s films. After all the stress of exams, Jack had reasoned that it would be a good idea to let their inner child have some fun before adult life started to take over. Thinking about it like that, John was happy enough. He had no idea what the film was, but he was more than happy to spend nearly two hours in the company of his friends watching it. It was bound to be a laugh. And, thankfully, it wasn’t Fifty Shades of Grey.

“So, what are you doing now, Rose?” Donna asked as the two of them went up to get popcorn and drinks for the four of them.

“Oh, I’m working now. In one of the shops in town. I didn’t do my A Levels,” she told her.

“To be honest, in some ways, I wish I had gone straight into work,” Donna said. “The last two years have been absolute madness. I’m glad it’s over.”

“Yeah, John was telling me that it had started to get a bit chaotic with deadlines and that before the end,” Rose explained. “I still wish I had decided to carry on, though.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Oh, you know, met a boy, moved in with him. Thought it was going to be the start of a new life but, in reality, it was anything but. Few months later, moved back in with my mum. Wasn’t an easy time.”

“Well, you could always go back? It’s never too late, I guess.”

“Yeah, I’m thinking of applying to some colleges next year. Think there’s some in Cambridge.”

“You could meet up with John, if he gets in to Uni there,” Donna smiled.

“He’ll get in, I know he will,” Rose smiled.

They paused for a moment as the cashier served them. Donna took the drink’s holder as Rose paid and grabbed for the popcorn bags.

“He likes you, y’know,” Donna said suddenly.

“Who?” Rose asked, not entirely sure what Donna was getting at.

Donna laughed, “John, of course.”

“Well, yeah, we’re friends after all,” Rose replied, pretending she didn’t understand the implicature behind what Donna was saying.

“You know what I mean,” Donna said, raising an eyebrow.

Rose sighed. “I dunno, Donna,”

“Come on, it’s obvious. He meets you for lunch at work and spends most weekends with you. You can’t get any more obvious than that,” she explained. “Plus, he bloody missed you. All those years you had without seeing each other and he missed you for all of them.”

“I know, but –

“Do you like him?” Donna asked, stopping a moment to look at her.

“I… I dunno, I’ve never really thought about it like that. I mean…we’re friends. We always have been. Yeah, we hang out a lot, but…”

“But?”

“But…I…oh, I dunno,”

“You do! You like him!” Donna said happily.

“Alright yeah, I like him. I think I always have. But, like I said, I don’t know if he likes me. At least, not in that way,” Rose said, briefly looking over to where John was sitting with Jack, waiting for the two of them to return.

“Well, I know he does. So why don’t you just tell him?” Donna asked. “Hey, I know, tell him when we go for drinks later and, if it doesn’t work out, tell him you were drunk and you can forget all about it.”

“Donna!”

Donna just smiled at her before turning towards the lads still sat on the seats waiting.

“Oi! You two! Grab your drinks and let’s go.”

Rose followed a second later.

…

“Tell her,”

“I can’t,”

“Why not?”

“Because,”

“Didn’t nobody ever tell you that ‘because’ is not an answer my friend?”

“Double negative, there, Jack.”

“Oh, like your English is perfect.”

“I’m not English,”

“Neither am I!”

Jack sighed. “For God’s sake, John, just tell her how you feel.”

“For the last time, Jack, I can’t.”

They had been having this same argument now for at least half an hour. Once they had come out of the cinema, they had taken a taxi to the one of the bars in town. At this point, Jack was already on his fourth vodka and coke and had been trying to get John to tell Rose how he felt since coke one.

John looked back at Rose who was sat with Donna at their table, not far from where he stood with Jack at the bar.

“Give me one good reason why not and I’ll leave this alone.”

“Because, in just over a month’s time, I’m going to be going to University and Rose won’t. I’m crap at holding down any relationship I’m in anyway, so how the hell do you think I’m going to be able to hold on to one with Rose whilst I’m at University?”

“You’ll be in Cambridge, you won’t be a million miles away! This is Huntingdon, for crying out loud, not Glasgow!”

“I know, but it’s still a lot of money to come back. Have you seen how much bus fares are! And on a Student budget!”

“You’re just making excuses.”

“And, what if I meet someone else? I couldn’t do that to Rose.”

“John, you have been in love with Rose for as long as I have known you. What makes you think going to Uni will change that?”

“I am not in love with Rose!” John whispered harshly.

“Sure, you keep telling yourself that,” Jack winked at him before taking their drinks and making his way back to the table. John followed a moment later, thinking over what Jack had said.

Was he really in love with Rose or was he just taken by her because she was a friend who he had only recently found again?

He didn’t have time to dwell on it before the rest of the evening became a bit of a blur.

…

“I didn’t know you were such a lightweight!” Rose said as she helped John out of the taxi and to his front door. Donna and Jack were already home, leaving it up to Rose – who wasn’t too sober herself – to deal with the drunk John.

“’M not a lightweight’” John mumbled as he staggered up the path.

“You almost passed out when you drank that last shot,” Rose told him. “And you’ve thrown up – what? – twice?”

“I told you, it was the food.”

“Yeah, likely story.” Rose sighed. “Come on, let’s get you inside. Is there anyone in?”

John shook his head. “Work leaving parties for friends. Said they would be staying the night.”

“Right, come on then, I’ll help you get into bed. Where’s your keys?”

“Pocket,”

Rose rolled her eyes and tried all of John’s pockets before finding them and opening the door.

By now, John was leaning on her for support. If she didn’t get him upstairs soon, she worried that he would pass out outside and she would have to drag him indoors. He might be extremely thin, but Rose knew that didn’t mean he would be light.

Thankfully, she managed to get him upstairs without too much trouble. However, in his drunken state, he seemed fascinated by the patterns in the wallpaper and giggled as he traced them with his finger.

Despite being tired herself, Rose couldn’t help but find John’s drunken antics amusing. He was a happy drunk, she had discovered, full of giggles and childish humour. It had made for an entertaining evening, particularly when John had found the drink coasters an amusing toy to play with and her hair which she had tied back that evening. He had played with her ponytail for at least half an hour, she guessed at.

Eventually, she got him into his room and looked at John, who seemed more awake suddenly. He wasn’t leaning on her as much now.

“You okay?” She asked him.

He didn’t answer, but instead looked directly at her.

“Rose?” He asked, his voice lower than normal. It sent a shiver down Rose’s spine in all the right ways.

“Yeah?” She whispered back. He was facing her now, eyes dark and hooded, his hands on her waist.

He didn’t answer her with words, but instead leaned in, his lips slowly coming into contact with hers.

Rose knew it was wrong, they were both drunk – he so much so, that he probably wouldn’t even remember when he woke up – but her body’s desire overtook her logical reasoning and she kissed him back, hard. Her hands went into his hair and his tongue dove into her mouth.

Soon, she found herself flat on her back on John’s bed with him hovering over her. A silent look of consent passed between them, before his lips were on hers once more, his hand travelling up and underneath her shirt, stroking the skin of her stomach before reaching her bra.

They’d deal with what happened afterwards, afterwards; where they stood and what this meant for them. For now, however, they simply let desire win.

…

When John awoke the next morning, he immediately wished he hadn’t. His head was pounding like mad and he felt the horrible urge to throw up. For a moment, he lay on his back, just trying to keep the nausea at bay. When that didn’t work, John threw back the covers and made his way into the bathroom, throwing up the contents of his stomach into the toilet bowl.

He felt awful. He’d never been that drunk before. He wasn’t even sure why he felt the need to get that drunk. He blamed Jack, it was his idea to go for drinks afterwards anyway. And, now he thought about it, it was his fault that he had drank all those shots. What had he been thinking? Oh, that’s right, he hadn’t. Now he had a massive hang over and was completely stark naked.

Wait…what?

John looked down at himself and realised that, yes, he was indeed naked. There wasn’t a stitch on him. He rattled his brain, trying to remember events from the previous night, but everything was still a little hazy.

Jack and Donna had left the taxi first, yes, that was right. Then he had Rose had made their way back to his. She helped him inside and up to his room.

Yes, that was correct, he’d been too drunk to stand, so she helped him inside.

Then he’d…

Oh.

Oh no.

Oh shit.

He’d kissed her then and she had kissed him back and then they…

_Fuck…_

_Fuckfuckfuckfuck_

John ran back into his room to find that there was no sign of Rose anywhere.

She must’ve left after…

Shit.

He lay down on the bed and put his hands over his face. Oh, he’d really gone and messed it up now, hadn’t he? How had he allowed this to happen? Why had Rose allowed him to do that? She wasn’t as drunk as he had been, surely she would’ve stopped him?

No, he couldn’t be mad at her. He just couldn’t. He should’ve been more responsible.

But, if she hadn’t been as drunk, then surely she had taken advantage of him?

No, she wouldn’t do that. Maybe she had been more drunk than he thought.

(or maybe, she wanted it just as badly as he did)

John willed the voice in his head to shut up.

Had they both wanted it, though? John thought about it. If he had been sober, would he have wanted her in that way?

(yes)

Yes.

Would Rose have wanted him in that way?

(yes)

Not sure.

He needed to talk to her, desperately.

He rolled over and made to grab his phone, his hangover now completely forgotten. However, instead of his phone, what he grabbed first was a piece of paper. Curious, he looked at it. It was a note. A note from Rose. All it said was simply:

_I’m sorry  
R x_

Sorry? What was she sorry for? Sorry that she had had sex with him? Sorry that she wasn’t still there? Sorry that she felt bad because she thought she had taken advantage of him?

He had since decided that the last one wasn’t true on his part. He had wanted it, so he wouldn’t accuse her of that. It still didn’t stop her from feeling guilty however, if that’s what she was sorry for.

Putting the note down, he grabbed his phone. They needed to talk. For once, John was actually going to come clean about something like this. He was going to tell her he didn’t regret what happened and how he actually felt about her. He would tell her that she had nothing to feel sorry about and that. If, at the end of it all, she still only wanted to be friends, then that was fine. He didn’t want to lose her completely – not again – but she needed to know how he felt. Now more than ever.

He rung her number and had no luck. He tried again. No luck. Eventually, he decided to leave a couple of messages both by voicemail and text, hoping that she would get back to him soon. He tried not to worry too much about it, after all, she was probably hung over too.

By the end of the day, John had still heard nothing back from Rose. He tried asking Donna or Jack, hoping that she had got in touch with either one of them, but they told him they hadn’t heard from her at all.

Eventually, after two days, John got a text from Rose. He opened it, hoping that she would want to talk to him, but all her message said was:

_‘Hey, sorry, I don’t think I can see you much more over the summer. I’ve upped my hours at work and mum wants to visit family at the weekends. Good luck with Uni.’_

John felt depleted. She didn’t even mention the other night and she didn’t want to see him anymore. Okay, so she hadn’t actually _said_ that, but that was what it felt like. She was just trying to let him down gently. She didn’t feel the same and he had been stupid to think otherwise. He really had ruined everything.

Jack messaged him a few days later, asking him what was going on. John explained and Jack got Donna to ring him, knowing she would better at comforting him than he would.

Donna told him that Rose probably needed time to get her thoughts in order and that she probably felt bad about what happened and thought that he regretted it to. John told her about the messages he had left her, telling her that he wanted to talk to her about it, but Donna just told him that that wasn’t going to do much. All in all, the conversation he had with Donna didn’t do much to lift his spirits.

But summer carried on and eventually it was Results Day. He met Jack and Donna by the gate and they smiled at him.

“Hey, you alright?” Donna asked.

“Yeah,”

“Heard from Rose at all?”

“Nope,”

“Don’t worry, she’ll come around.” Jack told him. “You can’t have been that bad of a shag.”

“Jack!”

The three of them made their way through the gates and into the outer hall of the house. Picking up their envelopes, they made their way back out into the sun before opening them in turn.

Donna went first, pulling out her pieces of paper. She smiled once she saw the results.

“Yes! Two Bs and an A! First choice here I come.”

Jack opened his next. “Three Cs. Better than I thought I was gonna get, but it still means I’ll be going to my insurance choice. Still could be worse.”

“Maybe they still let you in at your first choice? You never know, after all.” Donna told him.

“I’ll check later,” Jack said. “Come on then, what did you get?” He asked, looking at John.

“I think I’d rather look at home,” John told them.

“John, come on! We know you want to know, and so do we. Just open it.”

“It’ll be the same whatever.”

John sighed and opened the envelope. He looked at it and smiled slightly.

“So?” Donna prompted.

“All A*s,” he told them.

“Cambridge here you come!” Jack said.

“Maybe, I don’t know yet. I’ll check UCAS later.”

“Do it now,” Donna said.

John sighed and nodded, taking his phone from his pocket and checking his emails.

Donna and Jack waited impatiently for him to tell them. Eventually, he turned his phone round and the two of smiled in joy.

“You got in!” Donna said hugging her friend. Jack just clapped him on the back.

“Yeah, I did.”

“You don’t seem happy about it.”

“I am, really I am. I just…”

“Rose?”

John nodded. “Yeah,”

“Message her later, about your results.”

John nodded and the three of them left the school gates for the last time.

…

Finally, moving in day came around. For the last few weeks he had been going round Tesco and Wilko, getting things together that he needed and packing them into the bags. He tried to keep organised, his family helping him as much as they could, but it was a lost cause and eventually. John just shoved everything into multiple bags, promising to himself he’d sort it out once he’d arrived.

Since Results Day, he had heard from Rose only a couple of times. All of which were via text. On the evening that he got his results, he had sent her a message telling her that he had got in. She’d replied quickly telling him congratulations and that she was happy for him. He then had asked her if she wanted to meet up – he mentioned nothing of wanting to talk to her about what had happened – but she told him she was working late that night.

He tried asking a few times, but he only ever got negative answers back. Eventually, he understood that she clearly didn’t want to see him right now and tried to not let it bother him. But, the truth was, it did. He didn’t know why she was ignoring him like this or why she refused to see him, but he didn’t want it to continue. He wanted to see her. Needed to see her.

That was why, as soon as the car was parked up, ready for his dad to drive him there, he asked to stop off at Rose’s.

His dad agreed, but told him not to spend too long otherwise they’d traffic on the A14. John didn’t bother telling him that it was a Saturday and after rush hour anyway, because he knew it was just an excuse for him to not have to sit in the car and wait for ages, he just nodded and got in the car.

Once they were outside Rose’s, John made his way up to the front door and knocked, hoping that she was in. Surely, she didn’t have that much family she needed to see over the summer?

Thankfully, he heard footsteps from inside the house and his heart thumped in his chest and the prospect of finally talking to her.

He felt a bit disappointed when Rose’s mother opened the door.

“John?”

“Hi Jackie, is Rose in?”

“Yeah, she’s upstairs. I haven’t seen you for a while.”

“Well, y’know, been busy packing for Uni.”

“When do you go?”

“Today, actually. Which is why I really need to talk to Rose.”

“Sure, I’ll go and get her.”

“Thanks,”

Jackie made her way upstairs, leaving John by the open door. He was nervous and was fully aware that Rose might not want to talk to him at all. He really hoped she would at least see him, though.

Thankfully, he saw he come downstairs behind her mother. Jackie smiled at him before leaving the two of them alone.

“John?”

“Hey,” John said. “Look, Rose, I really needed to see you. I know you haven’t wanted to see me since…well…since what happened, but I didn’t want to go to off to Cambridge and not at least say goodbye and also that I’m sorry. Thing is, I never should have put you in that position and…I like you Rose, I really do. No, I wouldn’t have done what I did if I was sober, but that’s not because I don’t want to…”

“John…” Rose started but John interrupted her.

“It’s because I’ve been too shy to even tell you how I really feel.”

“John, I…”

“Look, I know you probably don’t feel the same, but I needed you to –

“John, please, shut up,” Rose interrupted. “Listen…I’m sorry.”

John looked at her. He couldn’t help but feel disheartened. He had allowed himself to think that, maybe, she might feel the same, but he knew that now he was about to find out that he had gotten his hopes up for nothing.

“No, I…I understand,” he looked down, unable to look her in the eye. “Guess I got my hopes up a bit, there.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I…I thought you might like me back.”

“What?” Rose looked at him. “Oh, no, John that’s not why I’m saying sorry.” John looked at her and Rose realised she needed to clarify what she meant. “I’m sorry that I’ve been avoiding you. I thought…well, I thought you might hate me; I thought you might think I took advantage of you that night. I couldn’t face that. I know you sent messages and none of them should have given me any reason to think that you wouldn’t want to see me but…but I didn’t want to call you or meet up with you in fear that you might be angry with me.”

“I’m not angry with you, I could never be,” John told her.

Rose smiled and stepped down onto the step below where John stood in front of her door. “I know that now and I should’ve known all along. Thing is, I was so scared because…it’s like you said: I like you – a lot – and I think I might’ve always have.”

John smiled at her broadly. If only they hadn’t wasted so much time these past few weeks, this could’ve been sorted out ages ago. Both of them had been worrying over nothing. But not anymore. And just to make sure, John leaned in slightly, allowing Rose time to pull away if she needed to, and pressed his lips against hers in a gentle kiss which she eagerly returned.

When the broke apart, they smiled at one another, words seemingly unnecessary.

“Come with me,” John said to her.

“What?”

“Come with me – to Cambridge – just for the day – maybe even ‘til morning. Please?”

“John, I…It’s your moving in day, I don’t want to get in the way.”

“You won’t, honestly. Please. Pack a bag for the night, I probably won’t get to see you again for another few weeks while I settle in and we’ve already gone weeks without seeing each other.”

Rose looked into his eyes. He was pleading with her, she could see his desperation. She wanted to go with him, really she did, but should she? Like she had said, it was his moving in day; she didn’t want to get in the way of him getting to know people. She wasn’t a student there and Cambridge had always seemed a place she would never fit in to.

“What will people think of me?” Rose asked. “You’re going to Cambridge for crying out loud.”

“Probably the same thing that I think of you – a remarkable young woman who has a lot more going for her than she realises. Don’t worry about not fitting in – it’s the beginning of Fresher’s! Chances are, by the time the evening comes, half the people there will be too drunk to even remember you were even around. And, besides, do you think me, of all people, is going to fit in there instantly, too? Just because I got the grades doesn’t mean I’m your stereotypical Cambridge student! Plus, I doubt it’s much different from elsewhere.” John said. “Please, Rose.”

She thought for another second before giving him a smile. “Okay, fine, you win. Give me two minutes. Are you sure this is alright?”

“Yes, I’m sure. Now hurry.”

…

Five minutes later, Rose returned with a small bag packed. She kissed her mother’s cheek before making her way out the front door.

“Ready?” John asked, holding his hand out to her.

“Yeah, you? After all, this is your big step.”

“Oh, I’m ready.”

Rose smiled and kissed his cheek. “Good,” she grabbed his hand. “Now, come on Cambridge boy, let’s go before you miss out on all the fun.”

“Rose Tyler, so long as you’re around, I don’t think I’m going to miss out on anything.”


End file.
